Vehicle wheel-rim.



J. H. WAGENHORST.

VEHICLE WHEEL BIM.

APPLIUATIONPILBD AUGV.14, 1912.

1,085,773. Q Patented Febf, 1914 2 SHEETS-SHEET l,

c l v 2 {IT/fil Ma I J. H. WAGENHORST.

VEHICLE WHEEL RIM.

iAPPLmA'rmN FILED Aue. 14, 1912.

'Patented Fus, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Flam

V Flag.

wheel.

UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE. y

JAMES H. WAGENHORST. OF AKRON. OHI

Two-Finns To THE B. F. GUODRICH co o, Assmann. n'Y masas iissmxnnm. orMPANY. 0F NEW YORK. N. Y., A COBPQM- TIoN 0F NEWYORK, ONE-FIFTH To THEGOODYEAR TIRE a RUBBER. COMPANY, Gl AKRON. oHIo. A conPonA'rIoN or omo.AND ONE-FIFTH To THE UNITED slum TIRE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK.

N. Y.. A CORPORATION Ol NEW YORK.

VEHICLE WHEEL-IRIN.

Specification ot' Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 3,1914.

Application filed August 14. 1912. Serial No. 714.959.

lle it known that l. .l.\.\ir.s ll. uons'r. a citizen ol' thc lluitedStates. resuling in the city ol A\kron. county of Summit. and State olI(lhio have invented certain new and useful lmprovenwnts in YehicleWheel-Rims. of which the following is a specification.

'lhis invention relates to improvements in the class of rims known asdemountable. iu which a rim for holding a pneumatic or other resilienttire is removably mounted upon a vehicle wheel. lu structures of thisclass the tire-carrying' rim w'ith the tire thereon may be removed andreplaced by a duplicate rim carrying another tire. lt is thus possibleto make an exchange of tires without the necessity for detachiug theresilient tire from the tire-cairviupr rim or placing the new one uponsuch rim. and in case. of an accident while on 1the road a necessarychange of tires is greatly facili` lated. lt` is possible to carry extratirecarryiugrims with fully inflated pneumatic. tires upon them. so thatupon placing' a new tire u )un the wheel it is not veu necessari' to inlate. the same.

l-n certain prio|"applications which l have tiled. for example. in vapplication Serial ANumber (3351.953. filed July 2;. lill l. l Ihavedescribed a tircwarrving rim comprising a rim base having' removabletire-retaining` flanges. the tire-retaining flanges boing held upon therim base by means of low inwardly hooked flanges formed integral withthe rim base. The inwardly hooked flanges interlock `with thetire-retaining flanges and thus support and strengthen the latter, andwhere the. rim base ias-.transversely split this interlockingengagement. has the important function of preventing the collapse of therim base before the removable rim is mounted upon the I have alsodescribed in certain of my applications a new way of securing atire-earryin rim upon a wheel, consisting in distorting ne rim slightlyb v forcing it away from the wheel at intervals so as to cause the rimto clam the wheel between the points where it is li ted therefrom.lVhere a rim provided with the interlocking tireretaining flanges ismounted upon a wheel iu this matil'ier it will be Seen that thedistortion of the rim base to clump it upon the wheel pecessitatesalsoithe distortion of the endless flanges to come extent at least.

ln accor ance with my resent invention lqmake the flanges of the withthe tire-retaining flanges only at intervals and ad'acent to the pointswhere the rim is to be orced away from the wheel, the rim base beingpermitted to draw awa from the tireretaming flanges between suc points.Thus the distortion of the rim base to cause it to clamp the wheel `isgreatly facilitated and may be accomplished withoutl producinff anysubstantial distortion 0f the endless flanges.

Bly present invention also contemplates certain improvements in meansfor clamping the tire-carrying rim removably upon the wheel. the natureand objects of which will fully appear from the following detaileddescription.

ln the accompanyiupr drawings which form a part ol' this specification.Figure 1 iS a side elevation of a portion of a vehiclewheel having onevform of my improved demountable rim structure applied thereto; Fig. 2 isa transverse section on line ll--I of Fig. l: Fig. il is a similarsection on line lllf-lll of Fig'. l; Fig. l is a view similar to Fig.f2, illustrating a modified form of my invention: Fig. 5 is a similarview illustrating a modified form of locking device for' securing atire-carrying rim upon a wheel. lu this figure the locking device isshown in connection with a tire-carrying.;x rim of the ordinary one ieeeciencher type/...but it is obvious that t i locking device of thisfigure may be utilized with other torina ot' tirecarrying rims, such asillustrated. for exV ample, in Figs. 2-01 Ll; Fig. 6 is a view similarto Figs. 2 and 5. illustrating such a modification. in which atirecarrymg rim of the form shown in Fig. 4 is held upon the wheel bymeans of a Lockingl device such as is shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is atransverse sectiqn, and Fig. 8 a side elevation of s. portion .a of .arim structure showmvanother modified form of locking device; ig. 9 is atransrim base interlock .ifi g. 3.

verse section, and Fig. 10 a side elevation of a portion of a rimstructure illustrating another modified form of locking device; Fig. l lif: .fr perspective view of a form of keeper; 12 is side elevation of aportion of a rtl felly provided with a loc-king device of the formillustrated in Figs. 5 and (i, the holt being shown in section. Theposition of the section is indicated by the line Xi'l-Xll. in Fig. 13,the plate 25 and the parts integral therewith being shown in full forthe sake of clearness. Fig. 13 is a sec tion of the locking device takenin a plane indicated by the line XIHWXHI in Fig. 1:2; Fig. 14 is atransverse section through a. wheel felly and rim illustrating amodified form of locking device. f

Referring to the drawings in detail 4and particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and23, the numeral 1 designates a vehicle wheel which may be of anysuitable construction, butI which is shown for purposes of illustrationas an ordinary wooden 'artillery wheel having a wooden felly 2. Shrunkor otherwise secured upon the felly is a metallic felly band' 3 having aflange 4 atv one edge thereof, the outer surfaces of the flange forminga bearing surface At the other side the felly band is preferably bentdown slightly to provide a beveled bearin surface 6. 7 is thetire-carrying rim which comprises the rim base 8, which in the presentinstance is transversely split as indicated in Fig. 1 at 9, and theendless removable and reversible tire-retaining flanges 10. For holdingthe iireretaining flanges upon the rim base, the latter is provided withan integral upturned flange at each edge thereof. Each of these flangescomprises sections 11 which are iriwardly hooked so as to overhanvr andinterlock with the dovetail-shapcd lbases 12 of the flanges 10, as shownin Fig. 2, and sections 13 which are not inwardly hooked and do notinterlock with the bases of the flanges 10, but which simply hold suchflanges against lateral displacement, as indicated in The particularshape of the bases of the. flanges 10 and the flange sections 11 is notimportant so long as the interlocking is secured. although I prefer theapproximate shape illustrated in the drawings. The rim hase is providedwith inwardly projecting ribs 14 and 15 which engage the bearingsurfaces 5 and 6 on the felly band. 'lhe engag ing faces of the rim andfelly band at the two sides of the wheel being of different di ameters,the application and removal of the lire-carrying rim is facilitated andthe clearance necessary to permit such application and removal and topermit the, valve stem to be button-holed through its opening in thefelly is greatly reduced. This action is now well understood and l willnot therefore describe the same in detail herein. For securing thistire-carrying rim upon the wheel I provide means for liftirg the sameaway from the bearing surfaces of the felly band at intervals, thuscausing the intermediate portions of the rim to grip such bean ingsurfaces and to seat firmly thereon throughout the greater portion of`the circumference of the wheel. The means used for this purpose arepreferably also such as positively to prevent lateral removal of therim. The rim isy lifted away from the wheel at points opposite to theinwardly hooked sections 11 of the side flanges of thc rim base. Theintermediatesections of the rim base, which are provided with the sideflange sections 1'3, are forced into engagementI with the bearingsurfaces of the felly band, by the pressure of the air in the inflatedtire. Thus the force of the air pressure cooperates with the wedges inclamping the rim upon the wheel, instead of tending to oppose the actionof the wedges as would be the case were the flanges continuously hooked.As the flange sections 13 do not interlock with the endlesstire-retaining flanges, it is possible for the rim base to draw awayfrom the i tire retaining flanges, as shown in Fi 3, and thus to seatupon the hearing surlces of the felly band without also drawing in andthus distorting the endless tireretaining flanges. The comparativelyrigid endless flanges therefore afl'ord no resistance to the distortionof the rim base and the action of clamping the rim base to the wheel isgreatly facilitated. The devices for forcing the rim basel away from thewheel may consist of radial bolts or studs, as shown in certain of myprior applications; for example, my applications Serial Numbers 668,771and 672,544, or they may consist of wedges forced laterally between thefelly hand and rim base, as lshown in Figs. 1 and 2, or they may be ofany other construction adapted to accomplish the purpose.

In Figs. 1 and 2 I have shown as a meansi for securingithe rim upon thewheel a lurality of keepers 16 having wedge portions 17 which are forcedbetween the beveled bearing surface 6 on the felly band and seats 18 onthe rim formed by bending in portions of the rib or flange 17. Thekeepers '16 have threaded openings 19 therethrough and screw upon theenlarged threaded endsv 20 of bolts 21. The latter pass transversal-ythrough holes in the wheel felly and turn freel y therein. They aresecured in position in any suitable manner as by being screwed throughnuts 22 and then having their ends riveted over as indicatedat 23 toprevent, them from unscre'wing. The nuts 22 preferably bear againstwashers or plates 24 which also form bearings for the ends of the bolts.The other enlls of the bolts pass through washers or plates 25 and mayadvantageously be provided with cone-shaped bearing surfaces 26 whichfit conical holes hold the platos the .plates 25, and

bougre inv the plates 25. The bolts thus serve to against the side oftheplates being preferably further secured by means of screws. The boltsare provided with heads '2T .by which they may be rotated. 'lhekeepers16 are preferably provided with fulcruming iiangesv 28 along their loweredges', which bear' against also with shoulders 29 which engage lugs 30bent up from the plates 25, these lugs serving movement of the keepersarek rotated to inoperative he seen that the rotation of the bolts 2l inone direction or the other willcause the keepers to be forced intowedging engagementhetween the wheel and rim or to be drawn out ot saidengagement and away from the side of the u'heel f elly. lVhen thekeepers are drawn away snllicieutly to permit the pointl of the wedgeportions 1T' thereof to clear the edge of the telly band, a

wheel l'e'lly, the

16 when the same further yrotation of the bolts 2l causes the` washerand sleeve, as describ Y is then riveted over to* form a head 43.

dotted lines in 8. qWith this position the rim may be 'keepers 'to berotated therewith until the shoulders 2i) engage the lugs 30. ThislwillVstop the rotation of thekeepers which lare now in inoperativeposition,as indicated in the keepers in 'removed and replacedwithoutinterference, andl after being replaced the bolts' 2 1 are turnedin the ieverse direction, which will first cause the keepers to rotateinto operative `position, where they will be stopped by the engagementof their vertical si es 31 with the lu 30. Further rotationof the bolts21 will cause the keepers to travel toward the side ofthe wheel felly,the wedge portions engaging the seats 18 on the rmi and forcing the rimlaterally and also lifting the same away from the felly hand. Theforcing of the rim laterally will vcause the rib 14 to ride up onlthebearing surface 5 at the. opposite side of the wheel and thus force thisside of the Arim away from the center of the wheel. The effct of thiswill he to draw the bear- I surfaces of the ribs 14 and 15 into closecontactl with the bea-ring surfaces on the felly band between adjacentwedges, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and as already explained. l i

ln Fig. 4J' have shown a modification of my invention in which the meansfor locking the rim upon of bolts 40, each of which has a head 41preferably formed .integral therewith. Each of lthe bolts has a plain slank so that it may be passed through a hole'in the felly, through a.plate or washer 25 and through an` externally threaded sleeve or nut 42which cnrriesthe keeper 16. In assembling the den'ce the bolt is passedthrodfh the f 'operation of this device is the same as that to limit therotary' position. It will i of a nut the wheel comprise a number to bebling t elly and. as mix 'ne ofthe locking device shown in Fig. 2. Itsmerit lies principally in its simplicity and in the cheapness with whichit may be constructed. In this figure lthe tire-carryingr rim comprisesa base 4l carrying the tireretaining;r flanges, the base beingT similarto the base 8 shown in Figs and 3. except that instead of having4flanges 14 and 15 hotrolled-thereon, it has ridges l5 and 46 rolledtherein for a similar urpose. These ridges are forined without.thickening; the metal of the rim base, and the latter may accordingly beformed from {iat stock. In other. respects this modification of myinvention is the 'same as that already described.

ln Fig. 5 l llavesliown a modified form of locking dev-icc for holdingthe tire-rarr \'ing rim upon the wheel. the tire-carrying Y rim beinprshown in this instance for purixises of `illustration as consisting of aone-piece metal channel 50 of the customary clencher rim crossesection.4Each o f the locking devices, of which any suitable number may be used,comprises a bolt -51 passing transversely through a hole in thefelly andpreferably having-formed thereon a collar 52 which1 en'gagespaf plate'or uz'ashen25 and retains the same agaihst one side of the wheel felly.The bolt `is held in p'osition by means 53. In order to Aprevent therotation of thebolt when the nut 53 is screwed on, or when the sleeve 55is rotated, the collar 52 is preferably formed with the taperedpro'ections 54 which engage recesses formed in t e washer. The collaritself is also preferably countersunk into the washer. These projectionson the collar are illustrated in further detail in Figs. l2 and 13. nThe washer 25 is held from rotation in any suitable manner, as by meansof the ,screw shown in Fig. 12. The bolt carrie's upon the portionthere'of extendin beyond the collar an externally three( ed slee e 55upon which screws the keeper 16. 'Flsleeve 55 is retained upon the boltby a hea 56 formed 4at the end of the bolt, said head preferably havinga s herical surface'tting a spherical socket 57 armed in the end of thesleeve The opening in the sleeve through which the extension portion ofthe bolt passes is made of larger 'diameter than the bolt, as indicatedat 58, so as to permit a limited moyement ofthe sleeve upon theholt, thespherical head of the bolt and the, spherical socket formed in the endof the leeve constituting a bell and socket joint. l`he opening throughthe sleeve is also preferably made of sufficient size to permit thesleeve 4over the col ar 52 in assem l e device. It will be seen that theball and socket mounting of the sleeve upon the end of the bolt permltsthe keeper, which4 is carried. by the sleeve, to seat itself evenly incontact with the rim and wheel. Any tilting of the keeper which mayresult when the same is screwed up tightly will thus have no tendency tobend or shearv the end-of the bolt, but will be .amply provided for bythe movement of the` 'sleeve upon the bolt. I`

preferably insert between the plate 25 and the inner end of the sleeve55 a split lspring washer 5t) which acts to prevent the acciden- `talrotation of the sleeve 55 and does not.

interfere with any lmovement of the Isleeve -upon the end of the bolt,'which Ihay occur.

ln Figi, I show a modification ofmy invention, in which thetire-carrying rim is of the same construction asthat shown in Fig. 4.The locking device is'the same as thatshown in Fig. 5, except that thewedge portion of the keeper 16lisl properly formed to engage a rim ofthe type shown. This figure shows the keeper rotated to inopera' tiveposition. y A

In Figs 7 and 8 I have shown another modification of my invention, inwhich the tire-carrying rim, which is ofthe same construction'as thatshown Fig."4,is held uponv the fellyband by m ans of a ,suitable--number'offl locking devices', each .of which comprises a bolt 60having' a collar- 61 there- A on which engages n plate 25l secure'd toone face of the Afelly, the' other end-of--the bolt being screwedthrough a nut or plate 66 and its end riveted -ov'er a-s'indieated at 67The bolt 6() hasta spherical-sha ed .head 62 similar to they head 56 ofthe oltfyv5'1- shown in Fig. '5, butdocat/ed much nearer the 'collar'.61, as the extension portion of the fboltfis short. -'The bolt-head 62retains the exter nally threaded sleeve 63 uponwhioh screws [thekeeper,l 16..l The bolt, instead of being provided with a hexagonal headat its outer `end, byl which it may be rotated, carries simily a smalltlange64, whichprevents the y keeperlirom becoming detached from thesleeve. 'This flange need not'have the width.

necessary for a head suitable for' engagement by n wrench, andthereforethe total y rotating the sleeve a hexagonal or otherwisesuitably shapedA socketI 65 is formed therein,

is thus permitted.

length of the sleevtx may lie/reduced. For

spherical socket inthe sleeve is located very near the side of thewheelfelly and practi` cally in theplane of the'fkeeper 16. The maximumfreedomY ofrtilting of thekeepuer In Figs. '9 and tirely dispense with,the use of bolts passing through the telly.,4 In accordance with thismodification .the fellye band 70 has" lusl'l attached thereto'or formedintegral t ere;`

with and bent down alongside of' the folly,

-Vkecper and :assures an even seati the felly of the Wheel.

10 I have illustrated a modification of.. my invention in which Ienthese lugs carrying the gv. devices. This general idea is illust-ratedin the patent to Shaw, No.*910,869, dated January 26,

'1909.- I have made certain improvements,

however, in the stnicture of that patent. In accordance with myinvention. each of the lugs 71 has a hole therein through which Y passesa stem 79 formed at the inner end of a screw-threaded stud 7 3. Thelatter is provided with a head 74 by which it may be rotated, or, aswill be obvious, it may have a socket formed 1n 1ts end as .shown 1nFig. 7,

or be provided with other suitable means for rotating thesame. A keeper16, of suitable form, is screwed upon each of the studs '73. The end ofthe stem 72 is riveted over to form a head 75 which'secures thestud tothe lug .71. The openingthronvh the lug is 4preferabl formed'into aspherical socket 76,'tl1e hea 75'being spherically shaped so "as to forma ball and socket joint and thus permit Ithe stud and-the keeper carriedthereby`to` swing until the keeper finds a true bearing engagementwithband. A sprm washer 59 may advantageously be inserte between`theIng!! ndthe screw-threaded portion of'the tnd, this washer servingtoprevent accidental rotav tion of .the stud and also vtok.nn'xint'ainthe same normally in position at right angles to the' plane of the wheeland to vpreventrattling. The washer will, however, -yield sufticientlyto permity the necessary movement of the stud when the keeper is findingits seat. Eachlug 71 preferablyhas a'lug 77.,l

bent outwardat one side theretnto` forma e rinltaand folly stop forengagement with the shou1der`29-v on the` keeper 16, thilug 77corresponding in function to the 1u"g. 30 formed upon the plateQ.labove; described. The point of pivoal eonnectionof the stud 73 with" thelug `41, being inside of the keeper,A permits great/'freedom ofmovement'of the Stud and vof thc latter; By securing the entire' loc ingde vices to lugs pernmnently carried by the felly band, it will be seenvthat the felly band and locking devices may be furnished to a wheelmaker completely assembled, and that all that it is necessary forthe..wheel. maker to do is to shrink or otherwise secure the folly bandupon the wheel; when the rim is .-coinplete. -Ivt 'avoids thenecessityfor the /lmring of accurately spaced holes through j In Fig. 14I, show .t families form of locking device whichicomprises a. bolt180`carried bv the wheel and havingaprojeoting portion upon lwhich isrotatably mounted a.

sleeve 81. This sleeve is-externally threadedv of this-flange and les i,-advantageously employed without w ai l claim: :je`4 rl`he combinationof a vehicle wheel, a

he over surface 83 of the head S4 of the l @he "e are made spherical.This form ofl iii nfention differs, however, from the i to c hown inFigs. 5, (3, T and 8, in that in flaw forms the head of' the bolt isconvex mi tis a roncme socket in the sleeve or nut, while in themodification of Fig. lef, the w i N! thev sleeve or mit ,is convex andthe or head of' the bolt is concave. This ne effect of throwing thecenter of osf "tion of the sleeve toward the side of the *cel telly andsubstantially into the plane l the keeper. as in the form of myinvention `vwn in Fig. T. vWith this construction the -annum amount ofoscillation of the sleeve wn -he bolt for the difference in diameterween the inside of' the sleeve and the bolt 'dita ined. Haring thusdescribed certain preferred figidiments of my invention, but without.wiring to limit myself' to the details set ile. any further than asspecified in some the more limited claims hereunto ap- 'f'i'ed, andwithout intending fo limit my 'fw-1f ation to an apparatus `in which allthe n* ini-es described are embodied, certain uri-es ot" my inventionare capable of :wipe

Ii.. ma

' ,f''--".irrying rim comprising a rim base and i removabletire-retaining flange mounted inviami, said flange being interlockedwith mil rim base at intervals, and means for heini-tine said rim baseto cause the same to clamp itself upon the wheel.

2. The combination of a vehicle wheel, a tire-carrying rim comprising arim base having,r inwardly hooked flange portions located at intervalsaround the edges thereof, and separate tire-retaining flanges mountedupon said rim base and interlocking with said inwardly hooked flangeportions, and means :for forcing said rim base away from said wheeladjacent to said inwardly hooked flange portions, whereby the rim baseis caused to clamp itself upon the wheel between thc points where it isforced away from the latter.

3. T he combination of a vehicle wheel, a tire-carrying rim comprising atransversely split rim base having an outwardly extending flange at eachside'thereof, iortions of said flanges located at intervals about thecirigauniference of the rim base being inwardly hooked, endlesstire-retaining flanges mounted upon said riln base, said flanges havingbase portions interlocking beneath said inwardly hooked flange portions,and wedges carried by said wheel and` adapted to be forced laterallybetween said wheel and rim base adjacent to the points of the rim baseprovided with the inwardly hooked flange portions, whereby the rim baseis forced away from the wheel adjacent to said points and caused toclamp itself upon the wheel between successive wedges.

JAMES H. WAGENHORST.

Witnesses z KARL S. DEITZ, EDMUND QUiNoY Moses.

